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Home Services Transaction Fee Structuring: An Independent Sponsor's Counsel

When the deal is home services and the question is Transaction Fee Structuring, the structure decisions in the first 30 days outlast the next five years. This is where Jason Powell works.

EV range $8M to $80M EV EBITDA $2M to $15M Audience Independent Sponsor
The deal context

Home Services deals in the lower middle market run a specific playbook. Transaction Fee Structuring is where the structure either holds or starts to leak.

The typical home services platform sits at $8M to $80M EV with EBITDA in the $2M to $15M range. The thesis runs on regional roll-ups of HVAC, plumbing, and electrical operators. The cleanest home services deals close in 60 days from LOI. The mess is almost always in the licenses, not the financials.

The moves

How Transaction Fee Structuring actually gets structured.

  1. Disclose the fee in the LP commitment letter and the LPA, with no surprises at close.

  2. Set platform transaction fees at 2 to 3 percent of enterprise value, add-on fees at 1 to 2 percent.

  3. Build an LP-approval threshold above which a one-time vote is required.

  4. Treat the fee as a closing distribution, paid before working capital adjustments.

  5. In home services, layer in working capital peg that survives a slow February as part of the Transaction Fee Structuring workstream.

The common mistake

Hiding the transaction fee in closing costs. LPs find it, and you lose the next deal.

Jason's take
"Charge the fee. Disclose the fee. Defend the fee. The LP either funds the model or does not."
Jason Powell · Transaction Fee Structuring
Capital after close

The deal is one thing. The capital that opens up after close is another.

The capital that opens up post-close, from refinancing to growth equity to strategic exit, runs through a small set of Wall Street relationships. That network is built in.

MONTH 18
Senior refi
MONTH 24
Dividend recap
MONTH 36
Growth equity
YEAR 4–5
Strategic exit
ENGAGE THE PRACTICE

Transaction Fee Structuring for Home Services, on independent sponsor terms.

Independent sponsor counsel that already speaks fluent deal-by-deal economics, structures clean LPAs, and travels with capital markets relationships for what comes after close.